My PC's are coming into a town that's being plagued by a mystery illness that's making townsfolk sick and paranoid. The culprit is a "knight errant" (actually a dishonored knight who was banished for killing his captain-- the town doesn't know this since he's not from there) who is part of a Dragon Cult. His plan is to sow chaos and eventually turn the town towards dragon worship to save them from the plague.
Right now I'm trying to come up with a handful of good but subtle clues that the players can find that implicate the knight/cult leader. I already have the town's wizard that can tell the party that, if it's dragon poison (as they have reason to suspect as they have encountered the cult recently, which lead them to this town), that the poison likely needs to be readministered to the town every three nights or else it's effects would fade, so they can watch out for that. The other clue is that a vagrant says he saw something flitting out of the old drain tunnels under the town a few nights ago (the townsfolk don't believe him because he's not right in the head and is always seeing things). If the party arranges to meet with the vagrant after the knight returns to town, the vagrant will turn up dead from an aggressive case of plague the next day (this might seem a little too obvious so to walk it back a little I decided that's when the knight will offer his services to the party, claiming that "it's time I stopped looking for help in the surrounding towns where there is none, and get to the bottom of this myself" and will pose as their ally as long as the ruse holds up).
Like I said, I'm looking for ideas for a few more things around this town that might serve to implicate the knight. I will also have many fake clues that implicate others (as the poison induces paranoia so all the townsfolk have their own suspicions) as well as several townsfolk who are secretly in league with the cult and are actively resisting the party. Let me know if you have any cool ideas I might wanna springboard off of! Thanks!
Okay, let me put on my player head...getting into character...I'm thinking tabaxi rogue...
I think this investigation would go: Is this a spell or a curse or a disease or a poison. If I'm a player, my first suspect actually IS the town wizard, ESPECIALLY if he's super-helpful. So that guy needs an airtight alibi. Once I think I can trust him, we look at how many people have gotten the 'mystery plague' so far and what do they have in common. Maybe it looks pretty random when it's just dots on a map, but what if you find out that it's happening in quick bursts over time all over town. A quick cluster on the north side and then a week later a quick cluster on the south side. That doesn't look like a disease, and the wizard swears it isn't a curse, so it's poison! Somewhere in this city is a guy nefariously poisoning his neighbors, intending that they perform acts of violence on one another. That's a guy I feel a deep need to track down and punch.
We split the party - (you know, to cover more ground?) - and take statements from victims and their family. Maybe the only thing they have in common is getting water from the fountain in the morning. Meanwhile we try to isolate the toxin in the remains of the victims!
AHHH!! Here we go! The remains of the victims. If this were a curse, there'd be some folkway or more about dealing with corpses. If they'd been diseased, they'd be burned in a bonfire! But if they'd been poisoned, then they're evidence in a murder investigation! And who stands to benefit personally if evidence in a murder investigation is burned in a bonfire? THE MURRRRRDERRRDERRRR! Mwah-hah-hah-hahhh!
P.S. I'm not loving the vagrant. If someone was coming out of the drainpipes, that's literally the wrong end of the plumbing system from which to introduce poison. If one of your players thinks that, they're off in the weeds. Your vagrant can see the knight errant skulking around the fountains, would be my suggestion. He was assumed to be doing whatever late-night skulking activities are appropriate for your table. But they hear that from someone else, so it's inadmissible hearsay in court. Meanwhile the vagrant has made an appointment with the knight errant to see what he'll pay the vagrant to keep quiet. etc etc...
What level are the PCs? Are you taking into account spells like Locate Object, Clairvoyance, Augury, Speak with Dead, Zone of Truth, Suggestion, Charm Person, Friends, Detect Poison/Disease, Detect Evil/Good, Detect Thoughts, sneaky Familiars the size of mice, and all the other mystery-breaking things mages and clerics can do by the time they are 5th or 6th level (and many of them long before that)?
They're only level 3, so it shouldn't be a concern. As far as lower level spells like zone of truth or detect evil/good, if they want to use their resources to solve it then more power to them. They're mostly newer players so I'd actually be pretty pleased if they tried something like that. I just want to make sure it's not unsolvable if they don't.
Like I said, I'm looking for ideas for a few more things around this town that might serve to implicate the knight. I will also have many fake clues that implicate others (as the poison induces paranoia so all the townsfolk have their own suspicions) as well as several townsfolk who are secretly in league with the cult and are actively resisting the party.
I would make sure to subtly point out how some people within the "affected areas" don't seem to be affected themselves. A few of these individuals might just be standard citizens that happened to avoid the negative effects of the poison (i.e., made their saving throws), but most of these outliers are actually the townsfolk in league with the cult. If the characters/players don't initially pick up on these mysterious outliers, then you can start being less subtle as more and more people get sick, but certain people keep avoiding this mysterious plague. Characters can eventually question these cult supporters to get more information; such as the plague actually being the poison, that the cult is behind the poisoning, and/or that the knight is the main antagonist.
I wouldn't let this occur too early on, since it could break the mystery pretty quickly if it's obvious that the one person among the thirty sick townsfolk is in league with the cult and implicates the knight, but it allows you some opportunities to provide information/clues if the players are struggling to find details or piece different parts together.
I like this and it makes a lot of sense. I was planning on detailing who the cultists were in the notes and what they might be doing to destabilize the town (i.e. the blacksmith is the most vocal in blaming the wizard, "if he's been working so hard day and night then why ain't he made any progress!?"), so I'd just need to show that he's also near one of the poisoned wells (or just mention that there's a well in the square next to his shop) and that he's so far resisted the plague and that should be enough to cast suspicion on them eventually, and then they might give up the knight.
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My PC's are coming into a town that's being plagued by a mystery illness that's making townsfolk sick and paranoid. The culprit is a "knight errant" (actually a dishonored knight who was banished for killing his captain-- the town doesn't know this since he's not from there) who is part of a Dragon Cult. His plan is to sow chaos and eventually turn the town towards dragon worship to save them from the plague.
Right now I'm trying to come up with a handful of good but subtle clues that the players can find that implicate the knight/cult leader. I already have the town's wizard that can tell the party that, if it's dragon poison (as they have reason to suspect as they have encountered the cult recently, which lead them to this town), that the poison likely needs to be readministered to the town every three nights or else it's effects would fade, so they can watch out for that. The other clue is that a vagrant says he saw something flitting out of the old drain tunnels under the town a few nights ago (the townsfolk don't believe him because he's not right in the head and is always seeing things). If the party arranges to meet with the vagrant after the knight returns to town, the vagrant will turn up dead from an aggressive case of plague the next day (this might seem a little too obvious so to walk it back a little I decided that's when the knight will offer his services to the party, claiming that "it's time I stopped looking for help in the surrounding towns where there is none, and get to the bottom of this myself" and will pose as their ally as long as the ruse holds up).
Like I said, I'm looking for ideas for a few more things around this town that might serve to implicate the knight. I will also have many fake clues that implicate others (as the poison induces paranoia so all the townsfolk have their own suspicions) as well as several townsfolk who are secretly in league with the cult and are actively resisting the party. Let me know if you have any cool ideas I might wanna springboard off of! Thanks!
I’m a fan of them finding a note signed with a single initial. Works best if you have multiple NPCs with names that start with that letter.
Okay, let me put on my player head...getting into character...I'm thinking tabaxi rogue...
I think this investigation would go: Is this a spell or a curse or a disease or a poison. If I'm a player, my first suspect actually IS the town wizard, ESPECIALLY if he's super-helpful. So that guy needs an airtight alibi. Once I think I can trust him, we look at how many people have gotten the 'mystery plague' so far and what do they have in common. Maybe it looks pretty random when it's just dots on a map, but what if you find out that it's happening in quick bursts over time all over town. A quick cluster on the north side and then a week later a quick cluster on the south side. That doesn't look like a disease, and the wizard swears it isn't a curse, so it's poison! Somewhere in this city is a guy nefariously poisoning his neighbors, intending that they perform acts of violence on one another. That's a guy I feel a deep need to track down and punch.
We split the party - (you know, to cover more ground?) - and take statements from victims and their family. Maybe the only thing they have in common is getting water from the fountain in the morning. Meanwhile we try to isolate the toxin in the remains of the victims!
AHHH!! Here we go! The remains of the victims. If this were a curse, there'd be some folkway or more about dealing with corpses. If they'd been diseased, they'd be burned in a bonfire! But if they'd been poisoned, then they're evidence in a murder investigation! And who stands to benefit personally if evidence in a murder investigation is burned in a bonfire? THE MURRRRRDERRRDERRRR! Mwah-hah-hah-hahhh!
P.S. I'm not loving the vagrant. If someone was coming out of the drainpipes, that's literally the wrong end of the plumbing system from which to introduce poison. If one of your players thinks that, they're off in the weeds. Your vagrant can see the knight errant skulking around the fountains, would be my suggestion. He was assumed to be doing whatever late-night skulking activities are appropriate for your table. But they hear that from someone else, so it's inadmissible hearsay in court. Meanwhile the vagrant has made an appointment with the knight errant to see what he'll pay the vagrant to keep quiet. etc etc...
What level are the PCs? Are you taking into account spells like Locate Object, Clairvoyance, Augury, Speak with Dead, Zone of Truth, Suggestion, Charm Person, Friends, Detect Poison/Disease, Detect Evil/Good, Detect Thoughts, sneaky Familiars the size of mice, and all the other mystery-breaking things mages and clerics can do by the time they are 5th or 6th level (and many of them long before that)?
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
They're only level 3, so it shouldn't be a concern. As far as lower level spells like zone of truth or detect evil/good, if they want to use their resources to solve it then more power to them. They're mostly newer players so I'd actually be pretty pleased if they tried something like that. I just want to make sure it's not unsolvable if they don't.
I would make sure to subtly point out how some people within the "affected areas" don't seem to be affected themselves. A few of these individuals might just be standard citizens that happened to avoid the negative effects of the poison (i.e., made their saving throws), but most of these outliers are actually the townsfolk in league with the cult. If the characters/players don't initially pick up on these mysterious outliers, then you can start being less subtle as more and more people get sick, but certain people keep avoiding this mysterious plague. Characters can eventually question these cult supporters to get more information; such as the plague actually being the poison, that the cult is behind the poisoning, and/or that the knight is the main antagonist.
I wouldn't let this occur too early on, since it could break the mystery pretty quickly if it's obvious that the one person among the thirty sick townsfolk is in league with the cult and implicates the knight, but it allows you some opportunities to provide information/clues if the players are struggling to find details or piece different parts together.
I like this and it makes a lot of sense. I was planning on detailing who the cultists were in the notes and what they might be doing to destabilize the town (i.e. the blacksmith is the most vocal in blaming the wizard, "if he's been working so hard day and night then why ain't he made any progress!?"), so I'd just need to show that he's also near one of the poisoned wells (or just mention that there's a well in the square next to his shop) and that he's so far resisted the plague and that should be enough to cast suspicion on them eventually, and then they might give up the knight.